Western Yellow Wagtail in the Arabian Desert

A Western Yellow Wagtail seeks shelter from the baking desert afternoon sun in the Arabian Desert of the Rub Al Khali Basin, which translates into the "empty quarter basin". This is the worlds largest continuous sand dune desert spanning around 650,000 square km in Southern Arabia. The picture was taken in the Saudi Arabian part of the desert, near the oasis city of Al Kharj, where many of the Saudi Royal Family have farms..

Often the desert is empty but near an oasis, plants grow and settlements too.

The wagtail is on passage to its breeding ground in Europe.